SFI, DYFI activists clash with West Bengal Police while protesting teacher recruitment irregularities

KOLKATA: Activists of SFI and DYFI clashed with the police on Friday outside the state Education Department office in Salt Lake while they were protesting the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of school teachers.

Around 30 activists of the CPI(M)-backed organisations were arrested as they tried to break through the barricades near Bikash Bhavan and allegedly attacked the police, an officer said.

Among those arrested was DYFI state secretary Meenakshi Mukherjee, the CPI(M)'s Nandigram candidate in the last assembly election against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP's Suvendu Adhikari.

"This government cannot give jobs to deserving candidates but crush democratic protests. We were demonstrating peacefully. This fascist government won't allow us to air the just demands for thousands of SSC candidates," said Mukherjee, while being taken into a police van.

She claimed that the Left activists were baton-charged, an allegation denied by the police.

On Thursday, a similar protest by BJYM activists in the area led to a scuffle with police.

The Calcutta High Court has directed the CBI to probe the various recruitments made by the School Service Commission (SSC) over the last few years.

The CBI has already questioned former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, present MoS for Education Paresh Adhikari and the top officials of the SSC in connection with the alleged irregularities.

It is alleged that several deserving candidates were left out of the recruitment processes, while many candidates who secured political recommendations were given appointments.